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Increased Serum Soluble CD40 Levels in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis
KAZUHIRO KOMURA, MANABU FUJIMOTO, TAKASHI MATSUSHITA, KOICHI YANABA, MASANARI KODERA, AYAKO KAWASUJI, MINORU HASEGAWA, KAZUHIKO TAKEHARA, and SHINICHI SATO ABSTRACT. Objective. To determine serum levels of soluble CD40 (sCD40) and clinical association in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). Methods. Serum sCD40 levels were examined by ELISA in 49 patients with SSc, 15 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, and 26 healthy individuals. sCD40 levels in plasma samples, which were obtained at the same time, were also determined. SSc patients were grouped into 22 patients with limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 27 patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc). Results. There was no significant difference between sCD40 levels of sera and those of plasma. Serum sCD40 levels were significantly elevated in patients with SSc compared to patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and controls (p < 0.001). Serum sCD40 levels were higher in patients with lcSSc than in those with dcSSc (p < 0.001). There was no correlation between sCD40 and sCD40 ligand levels in patients with SSc. Conclusion. Elevated serum sCD40 levels were associated with lcSSc. These results suggest that the blockade of CD40/CD40 ligand interaction could be a potential therapeutic strategy in SSc. (First Release Jan 15 2007; J Rheumatol 2007;34:353–8) Key Indexing Terms:
SYSTEMIC SCLEROSIS From the Department of Dermatology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, Ishikawa; and the Department of Dermatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan. Supported by a grant-in-aid from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan. K. Komura, MD, PhD; M. Fujimoto, MD; T. Matsushita, MD; K. Yanaba, MD, PhD; M. Kodera, MD, PhD; A. Kawasuji, MD; M. Hasegawa, MD, PhD; K. Takehara, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science; S. Sato, MD, PhD, Department of Dermatology, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Address reprint requests to Dr. M. Fujimoto, Department of Dermatology, Kanazawa University Graduate School of Medical Science, 13-1 Takaramachi, Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-8641, Japan. E-mail address: fujimoto-m@umin.ac.jp Accepted for publication October 30, 2006.
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